David Wain

Early life

Wain was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the son of Nina (Saul) and Norman Wain. As a young man, Wain went to a summer camp in Canaan, Maine, on which Wet Hot American Summer was loosely based.

Career

In 1988 while attending NYU film school, Wain became a founding member of the sketch comedy group The New Group. This group would later come to be known as The State, and in 1993 he and his fellow members created and starred in The State, a sketch show that lasted 26 episodes on MTV. After The State ended, he, Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter eventually formed the comedy trio Stella.

Wain's first feature film Wet Hot American Summer (2001) is an absurdist summer camp comedy starring Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black and Elizabeth Banks. Wain directed the film, and co-wrote and co-produced it with Michael Showalter, who also plays a lead role.

His second feature film The Ten, starring Winona Ryder and Paul Rudd (and a large ensemble cast of well-known actors) had a short theatrical run and was released on DVD on January 15, 2008.

Wain's third feature, Role Models, starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jane Lynch and Elizabeth Banks, was his first widely released film. Released in theaters on November 7, 2008, the film received positive reviews from critics and fans alike, as well as earning $19 million on its opening weekend. Its eventual worldwide gross was over $91 million.

Wain starred in a web series titled Wainy Days on the website My Damn Channel, which ran for five seasons and ended in January 2012. The series follows a fictionalized version of Wain through his everyday life as he tries to romance numerous women and discusses his problems with his friends at the sweatshop where he works. Elizabeth Banks, Jonah Hill, Jason Sudeikis, Rob Corddry, Thomas Lennon, Josh Charles, Paul Rudd, and Michael Ian Black, and various other Stella, The State and Wet Hot American Summer alumni have all guest-starred in various episodes. The recurring cast was A.D. Miles, Matt Ballard and Zandy Hartig, who was instrumental in the creation of the series.

As one third of the comedy troupe Stella, Wain has co-hosted the long running Stella nightclub show in New York City, toured the United States and made a series of shorts with the group, and eventually help create a 2005 series on Comedy Central based on Stella routines.

Wain is featured as the voice of The Warden in the animated series Superjail!. He was a featured commentator in the I Love the 70s series, I Love the 90s Part Deux series, and the weekly VH1 show Best Week Ever.. With The State, Wain co-wrote the book State by State with The State. He has appeared in such movies as The Baxter, Keeping the Faith and Role Models.

Wain's fourth feature film, Wanderlust, was released on February 24, 2012. It stars Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Malin Akerman and Alan Alda. Wain directed the film, from a screenplay he wrote with Ken Marino, and has a cameo in the film as a TV weatherman.

His fifth feature They Came Together was released in June 2014. The cast includes Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Ed Helms, Cobie Smulders, Max Greenfield, and Christopher Meloni. Wain and Showalter co-wrote the eight-episode Netflix prequel Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp based on the 2001 film with almost the entire cast of the original film returning. The series premiered on July 31, 2015, and was more well received by critics. He will return to co-write and direct the Netflix sequel Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later which will premiere in 2017.

Personal life

Wain lives in Los Angeles. He has his two sons and is divorced.